Before Partition: - New Islamic republic of Pakistan: Aug 14, 1947
- There was over 350 years of British presence in India.
- India was left divided in two after the British had left India.
- There were two countries were split on the basis of religion, Pakistan and India.
- Even with an official boundary, it hasn’t ceased the conflict between the two countries. The issues left by the British caused two wars and many problems between India and Pakistan.
- The partition and its new found liberty from the British colonial rule set an example for other nations like Israel, which desperately wanted a separate homeland because of the extreme differences between the Arabs and the Jews.
Before Partition
Reasons for Partition:
- In the end of the 19th century the nationalist movements had begun in India. Nationalism increased broadly in India since the British way of education and advances of transportation and communication had been instilled upon them.
- Similar conflicts/ movements in the country were based on religion rather than social class or regional conflicts.
- “Added to this were the memories of power over the Indian subcontinent that the Muslims held on to, especially those in the old centers of Mughal rule. These memories might have made it exceptionally difficult for Muslims to accept the imposition of colonial power and culture. They refused to learn English and to associate with the British. This was a severe drawback for them as they found that the Hindus were now in better positions in government than they were and thus felt that the British favored Hindus.” (Shirin Keen)
- Hindus strongly resented the Muslims because of their prior control over India. The Hindu’s also demanded to change the official script form the Persian to the Hindu Devanagri script, thus making the main candidate for the national language, Hindi rather than Urdu.
- In addition Congress had also made several errors in their governing which fueled the League’s idea that it was not possible to have India unified. It was necessary to split the country due to the many religious conflict.
- One example of a mistake policy was the institution of the "Bande Matram," a national anthem which expressed anti-Muslim sentiments, In the schools of India where Muslim children were forced to sing it
- So Cabinet Mission Plan in 1942 convinced the leaders of the Muslim League by congress that compromise was not a possible choice and partition was the only way to go.
Impact of Partition:
- Left India and Pakistan in a devastated state, millions people moved/ agreed with the partition
- 15 million refugees poured across the borders to regions completely foreign to them, for though they were Hindu or Muslim, their identity had been embedded in the regions where there ancestors were from.
- In the process of the partition, there were many riots and demonstrations at the time that had some causalities and deaths. Or others were raped and looted.
-The women in particular were used as instruments of power by the Hindus and the Muslims
-Not only was the country divided, so were the provinces of Punjab and Bengal, divisions which caused destructive riots the death of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
-Years after the partition the two countries are still trying to settle things down and heal from the events that had occurred.
-Both India and Pakistan started off with a ruined and very weak economy. They essentially and had to start over.
-Their government wasn’t any different, it was very unstable and lacked an experienced and established.
- Many great leaders that were lost: Ghandi, Jinnah and Allama Iqbal
- Pakistan had to face the separation of Bangladesh in 1971
- India and Pakistan have two wars since the partition.
-They still have the issue of possession of Kashmir.
- Problems in Kashmir are the same: boundaries and divisions, Hindu and Muslim majorities and differences.
After Partition
Timeline:
1600-British East India Company is established. 1857-The Indian Mutiny or The First War of Independence. 1858-The India Act: power transferred to British Government. 1885-Indian National Congress founded by A. O. Hume to unite all Indians and strengthen bonds with Britain. 1905-First Partition of Bengal for administrative purposes. Gives the Muslims a majority in that state. 1906-All India Muslim League founded to promote Muslim political interests. 1909-Revocation of Partition of Bengal. Creates anti-British and anti-Hindu sentiments among Muslims as they lose their majority in East Bengal. 1916-Lucknow Pact. The Congress and the League unite in demand for greater self-government. It is denied by the British. 1919-Rowlatt Acts, or black acts passed over opposition by Indian members of the Supreme Legislative Council. These were peacetime extensions of wartime emergency measures. Their passage causes further disaffection with the British and leads to protests. Amritsar Massacre. General Dyer opens fire on 20,000 unarmed Indian civilians at a political demonstration against the Rowlatt Acts. Congress and the League lose faith in the British. 1919-Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (implemented in 1921). A step to self-government in India within the Empire, with greater provincialisation, based on a dyarchic principle in provincial government as well as administrative responsibility. Communal representation institutionalised for the first timeas reserved legislative seats are allocated for significant minorities. 1920-Gandhi launches a non-violent, non-cooperation movement, or Satyagraha, against the British for a free India. 1922-Twenty-one policemen are killed by Congress supporters at Chauri -Chaura. Gandhisuspends non-cooperation movement and is imprisoned. 1928-Simon Commission, set up to investigate the Indian political environment for future policy-making, fails as all parties boycott it. 1929-Congress calls for full independence. 1930-Dr. Allama Iqbal, a poet-politician, calls for a separate homeland for the Muslims at the Allahabad session of the Muslim League. Gandhi starts Civil Disobedience Movement against the Salt Laws by which the British had a monopoly over production and sale of salt. 1930-31-The Round Table conferences, set up to consider Dominion status for India. They fail because of non-attendance by the Congress and because Gandhi, who does attend, claims he is the only representative of all of India. 1931-Irwin-Gandhi Pact, which concedes to Gandhi's demands at the Round Table conferences and further isolates Muslim League from the Congress and the British. 1932-Third Round Table Conference boycotted by Muslim League. Gandhi re-starts civil disobedience. Congress is outlawed by the British and its leaders. 1935-Government of India Act: proposes a federal India of political provinces with elected local governments but British control over foreign policy and defence. 1937-Elections. Congress is successful in gaining majority. 1939-Congress ministries resign. 1940-Jinnah calls for establishment of Pakistan in an independent and partitioned India. 1942-Cripps Mission o India, to conduct negotiations between all political parties and to set up a cabinet government. Congress adopts Quit India Resolution, to rid India of British rule. Congress leaders arrested for obstructing war effort. 1942-43-Muslim League gains more power: ministries formed in Sind, Bengal and North-West Frontier Province and greater influence in the Punjab. 1944-Gandhi released from prison. Unsuccessful Gandhi-Jinnah talks, but Muslims see this as an acknowledgment that Jinnah represents all Indian Muslims. 1945-The new Labour Government in Britain decides India is strategically indefensible and begins to prepare for Indian independence. Direct Action Day riots convince British that Partition is inevitable. 1946-Muslim League participates in Interim Government that is set up according to the Cabinet Mission Plan. 1947-Announcement of Lord Mountbatten's plan for partition of India, 3 June. Partition of India and Pakistan, 15 August. Radcliffe Award of boundaries of the nations, 16 August. 1971-East Pakistan separates from West Pakistan and Bangladesh is born.
Partition of India
Before Partition:
- New Islamic republic of Pakistan: Aug 14, 1947
- There was over 350 years of British presence in India.
- India was left divided in two after the British had left India.
- There were two countries were split on the basis of religion, Pakistan and India.
- Even with an official boundary, it hasn’t ceased the conflict between the two countries. The issues left by the British caused two wars and many problems between India and Pakistan.
- The partition and its new found liberty from the British colonial rule set an example for other nations like Israel, which desperately wanted a separate homeland because of the extreme differences between the Arabs and the Jews.
Reasons for Partition:
- In the end of the 19th century the nationalist movements had begun in India. Nationalism increased broadly in India since the British way of education and advances of transportation and communication had been instilled upon them.- Similar conflicts/ movements in the country were based on religion rather than social class or regional conflicts.
- “Added to this were the memories of power over the Indian subcontinent that the Muslims held on to, especially those in the old centers of Mughal rule. These memories might have made it exceptionally difficult for Muslims to accept the imposition of colonial power and culture. They refused to learn English and to associate with the British. This was a severe drawback for them as they found that the Hindus were now in better positions in government than they were and thus felt that the British favored Hindus.” (Shirin Keen)
- Hindus strongly resented the Muslims because of their prior control over India. The Hindu’s also demanded to change the official script form the Persian to the Hindu Devanagri script, thus making the main candidate for the national language, Hindi rather than Urdu.
- In addition Congress had also made several errors in their governing which fueled the League’s idea that it was not possible to have India unified. It was necessary to split the country due to the many religious conflict.
- One example of a mistake policy was the institution of the "Bande Matram," a national anthem which expressed anti-Muslim sentiments, In the schools of India where Muslim children were forced to sing it
- So Cabinet Mission Plan in 1942 convinced the leaders of the Muslim League by congress that compromise was not a possible choice and partition was the only way to go.
Impact of Partition:
- Left India and Pakistan in a devastated state, millions people moved/ agreed with the partition- 15 million refugees poured across the borders to regions completely foreign to them, for though they were Hindu or Muslim, their identity had been embedded in the regions where there ancestors were from.
- In the process of the partition, there were many riots and demonstrations at the time that had some causalities and deaths. Or others were raped and looted.
-The women in particular were used as instruments of power by the Hindus and the Muslims
-Not only was the country divided, so were the provinces of Punjab and Bengal, divisions which caused destructive riots the death of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
-Years after the partition the two countries are still trying to settle things down and heal from the events that had occurred.
-Both India and Pakistan started off with a ruined and very weak economy. They essentially and had to start over.
-Their government wasn’t any different, it was very unstable and lacked an experienced and established.
- Many great leaders that were lost: Ghandi, Jinnah and Allama Iqbal
- Pakistan had to face the separation of Bangladesh in 1971
- India and Pakistan have two wars since the partition.
-They still have the issue of possession of Kashmir.
- Problems in Kashmir are the same: boundaries and divisions, Hindu and Muslim majorities and differences.
Timeline:
1600-British East India Company is established.1857-The Indian Mutiny or The First War of Independence.
1858-The India Act: power transferred to British Government.
1885-Indian National Congress founded by A. O. Hume to unite all Indians and strengthen bonds with Britain.
1905-First Partition of Bengal for administrative purposes. Gives the Muslims a majority in that state.
1906-All India Muslim League founded to promote Muslim political interests.
1909-Revocation of Partition of Bengal. Creates anti-British and anti-Hindu sentiments among Muslims as they lose their majority in East Bengal.
1916-Lucknow Pact. The Congress and the League unite in demand for greater self-government. It is denied by the British.
1919-Rowlatt Acts, or black acts passed over opposition by Indian members of the Supreme Legislative Council. These were peacetime extensions of wartime emergency measures. Their passage causes further disaffection with the British and leads to protests. Amritsar Massacre. General Dyer opens fire on 20,000 unarmed Indian civilians at a political demonstration against the Rowlatt Acts. Congress and the League lose faith in the British.
1919-Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (implemented in 1921). A step to self-government in India within the Empire, with greater provincialisation, based on a dyarchic principle in provincial government as well as administrative responsibility. Communal representation institutionalised for the first timeas reserved legislative seats are allocated for significant minorities.
1920-Gandhi launches a non-violent, non-cooperation movement, or Satyagraha, against the British for a free India.
1922-Twenty-one policemen are killed by Congress supporters at Chauri -Chaura. Gandhisuspends non-cooperation movement and is imprisoned.
1928-Simon Commission, set up to investigate the Indian political environment for future policy-making, fails as all parties boycott it.
1929-Congress calls for full independence.
1930-Dr. Allama Iqbal, a poet-politician, calls for a separate homeland for the Muslims at the Allahabad session of the Muslim League. Gandhi starts Civil Disobedience Movement against the Salt Laws by which the British had a monopoly over production and sale of salt.
1930-31-The Round Table conferences, set up to consider Dominion status for India. They fail because of non-attendance by the Congress and because Gandhi, who does attend, claims he is the only representative of all of India.
1931-Irwin-Gandhi Pact, which concedes to Gandhi's demands at the Round Table conferences and further isolates Muslim League from the Congress and the British.
1932-Third Round Table Conference boycotted by Muslim League. Gandhi re-starts civil disobedience. Congress is outlawed by the British and its leaders.
1935-Government of India Act: proposes a federal India of political provinces with elected local governments but British control over foreign policy and defence.
1937-Elections. Congress is successful in gaining majority.
1939-Congress ministries resign.
1940-Jinnah calls for establishment of Pakistan in an independent and partitioned India.
1942-Cripps Mission o India, to conduct negotiations between all political parties and to set up a cabinet government. Congress adopts Quit India Resolution, to rid India of British rule. Congress leaders arrested for obstructing war effort.
1942-43-Muslim League gains more power: ministries formed in Sind, Bengal and North-West Frontier Province and greater influence in the Punjab.
1944-Gandhi released from prison. Unsuccessful Gandhi-Jinnah talks, but Muslims see this as an acknowledgment that Jinnah represents all Indian Muslims.
1945-The new Labour Government in Britain decides India is strategically indefensible and begins to prepare for Indian independence. Direct Action Day riots convince British that Partition is inevitable.
1946-Muslim League participates in Interim Government that is set up according to the Cabinet Mission Plan.
1947-Announcement of Lord Mountbatten's plan for partition of India, 3 June. Partition of India and Pakistan, 15 August. Radcliffe Award of boundaries of the nations, 16 August.
1971-East Pakistan separates from West Pakistan and Bangladesh is born.
[From: http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Part.html]
Sources/ references: 1. http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Part.html 2. http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t3w30pakistanindia.htm
By Gia